


Get in iance, We're Going Shopping

by JackieNautilus



Category: Battle For Dream Island (Web Series)
Genre: Fanny cares about Bubble she just won't say it out loud, Fanny knows things, Flower tryin' to better herself gives me fuel, Fluff, Friendship, Future Angst, Future Hurt/Comfort, Going to be throwing my own personal headcannons in here too because I can, I love all of iance so much, I'm not good at hurting characters ok, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pencil and Match are some bitch ass motherfuckers, Ruby just being Ruby, Yellow Face gotta pay for his ads somehow, You cannot convince me that Dora wouldn't start a food fight, iance will always be spelt with lowercase letters because that's how it is in the show, nobody in iance is straight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24179830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackieNautilus/pseuds/JackieNautilus
Summary: A series of one-shots that focus primarily on the members of iance and what they get up to in their free time. Most of these will be set before BFB 16, but I may do some about the members after the split. Other characters may be included, but iance members will always be the center of attention.
Relationships: Bubble and Ruby, Bubble/Fanny, Flower/Ruby, Freesmart minus Book and Icy, Match/Pencil, Snowball and Lightning
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	Get in iance, We're Going Shopping

**Author's Note:**

> Yoooooo I was on a massive BFB binge after episode 18 and horg. I'm gonna miss the teams but I'm still really excited for what's to come! And because I love iance so much I decided to create this horrible little thing. This is gonna be pure self-indulgement.
> 
> Anyway here's some things to know about this fanfic so you won't get confused:
> 
> \- Each team has their own little house because I doubt they'd want to sleep outside. We can say Four did it
> 
> \- I'm still new to the whole writing thing, so if some characters act a bit OOC, I apologize, and would appreciate any criticism! 
> 
> \- iance is the gay rights team
> 
> And that's 'bout it! Enjoy my nonsense :)

**Girls Night Out**

With Match and Pencil gone, The Alliance was at a bit of a roadblock. Ruby took up the reigns of ‘leader,’ even though… There wasn’t really much to be the leader of. It was just her and Bubble now, seeing as how their alternatives, Book and Icy, were on a different team and didn’t seem too interested in being in the Alliance anymore. For Goiky’s sake, even the rest of iance didn’t seem too interested in having a leader. Fanny outright said she hated the idea. Snowball, predictably, said that he should be the leader, which everyone else shut down pretty quickly. Not having Match and Pencil around to tell them what to do took some getting used to, but Ruby thought she had adjusted well enough. Bubble still didn’t seem too happy, and it was beginning to concern the red gem. She missed the happy-go-lucky Bubble and she missed seeing her smile. She’d had just about enough of seeing her miserable. 

It was time to do something about it.

“Heeeeeeeyyyy Bubs!” Ruby strolled over to her fellow remaining Alliance member with her usual gusto, carefully wrapping an arm around her to avoid popping her. She gave Bubble a bright smile.

“Oh, hello Ruby!” Bubble smiled back in that way she usually does. That sweet smile that always managed to lighten the mood. Ruby knew better though. Even though Bubble and Fanny had a talk a few hours ago about Match’s behavior, Bubble still had that cloudy feeling around her. Hopefully she’d be able to lift her friends' spirits.

“Soooooo, I've been thinking.” Ruby continued. “Things have been kind of lame lately, huh?”

“What do you mean?” Bubble asked, slowly removing Ruby’s arm. “I mean, I suppose it has been unusually quiet the past few days. Four hasn’t announced the next challenge yet and Pen and his gang haven’t pulled any stunts in a while…”

“Oh Bubble, that’s not what I mean.” Ruby sat down on the grass, yanking some blades of grass out of the ground with her fingers. “I mean like. With the alliance.”

Ruby noticed an immediate shift in the mood. Bubble now had a giant frown plastered on her face. “I suppose.” Her fragile friend mumbled, taking a seat next to her. 

“We should like. Do something!” Tossing her collected grass to the wind, Ruby looked over to where the other contestants were playing around. “Like, I dunno. Go out for a night. Relax. Do some shopping, maybe!”

Ruby heard Bubble’s contemplative humming. “That sounds like it could be fun.” Bubble had a tint of uncertainty to her voice. “But when we went out it was usually you ‘n me along with Match and Pencil. It… Probably won’t feel the same if it’s just the two of us.”

It was now Ruby’s turn to frown. She couldn’t deny that Bubble was right. They were both so used to having a group of four. Although Match and Pencil would often make themselves the center of attention, it’d still feel strange if it were just her and Bubble. She would suggest asking Book and Ice Cube to come along but… They didn’t want to associate with the alliance. If not them, then who else…?

Ruby suddenly shot up, gasping in realization. 

“Bubs, we could totally drag Fanny and Flower along!”

Bubble began stuttering and stammering in shock. “Flower and Fanny? You sure? Flower’s still a bit iffy, and wouldn’t Fanny hate the idea?”

“My dear friend, think of it this way.” Sitting back down, Ruby wrapped her arm around Bubble again. “Flower’s like, obviously trying her best. It wasn’t her fault we lost the climbing the stairs challenge. Besides, you forgave her, remember? And you and Fanny are friends! Fanny already hates everything, so it’s not like it’ll be anything new. And it could be a nice team bonding experience, too!”

“Well, putting it that way…” Bubble’s smile slowly came back. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt. But uh... Do you think Snowball and Lightning will be alright being left by themselves?” 

“Pfffft, those two?” Ruby laughed. “I’m sure they’ll be just fine!”

“If you say so...” Bubble responded. She still had that edge of uncertainty to her voice, but Ruby was confident that this plan of hers would surely cheer her up. She just had to get Flower and Fanny on board. Easy peasy.

* * *

Turns out, getting Flower on board wasn’t that difficult. Flower loved shopping, and Ruby was in Flower’s good graces, so she was down as soon as Ruby had made the offer. And seeing as how she was still attempting to get her team to like her, this seemed like a prime opportunity to score some popularity points. Fanny was a bit harder to convince. In fact, Ruby had to use Fanny’s nature against her in order to get her to tag along.  
  
“I hate outings!” Fanny had exclaimed. 

“Yes, but won’t you also hate staying home alone with Lightning and Snowball?” 

Fanny stopped for a moment, contemplating the question, before ultimately agreeing to come.

“I may hate outings, but spending a night alone with Lightning and Snowball sounds worse.”

And so, it was set. That night Ruby, Bubble, Flower and Fanny set out on their little outing. A ‘Girls Night Out,’ Ruby declared. They had to leg it, which nobody really seemed to mind. Save for Fanny, but again, she hated everything so it wasn’t really anything new. Ruby didn’t want to break her promise to Pencil. The Freesmart Supervan was only to be used when the stars aligned, and this, unfortunately, wasn’t the time. The only real issue the girls faced was Fanny complaining that she hated things every now and again. Eventually, the team made it to the local shopping center. What, you thought they didn’t have one? This is Goiky for crying out loud, nothing makes sense here. It seemed as if the girls of Iance weren't the only ones who had the idea to go out for the night. Looking around the front of the building, Ruby could spot Taco and Lollipop leaning against a wall, chatting back and forth, Puffball, Foldy and Bell were here too, she spotted Pin and Coiny through one of the windows and somewhere in the distance she could hear the faint chattering of Dora.

"Gosh, it's quite packed tonight, huh?" Bubble stood near the back of the group, a nervous look on her face.

"I hate crowds! Too many people in one place gives me a headache." Fanny spat, her voice full of malice and spitefulness.

"I don't think it's that big of a deal. The past few challenges have been quite stressful. Everyone probably needs some time to de-stress." Ruby pointed out. 

"I hate de-stressing!" 

"That's enough of that, Fanny!" Pointing an accusing finger at the fan, Flower narrowed her eyes. "Everybody knows that you hate everything! You don't need to declare your hatred to the world every five seconds! It's annoying!"

"You're annoying!" Fanny retorted, moving to stand next to Bubble, who was now frowning at the unfolding scene.

“Can we maybe please stop fighting, we’re all here to have fun, remember?” Bubble said, waving her arms.

“Bubble’s right, quit squabbling you two!” Ruby gave both Flower and Fanny a light slap, not hard enough to hurt either of them. But it got the point across, as Flower just nodded, and Fanny grunted in response, mumbling quietly to herself. Things seemed quite tense at the moment. Bubble was clearly getting jittery again, Flower looked more irritated than usual, and Fanny… Was actually just being normal ol’ Fanny. Not much to be done about her. But hopefully the other two would ease up later. 

Walking into the building, the four girls took a moment to look around. Bubble, Flower and Ruby had all been here before. They didn’t know if Fanny had, but she seemed indifferent either way. After having walked in the dark for quite some time, it took a while to get used to the warm yellow fluorescent lights. The chatter of other objects, strangers and familiars alike, filled the empty void of silence they had been in, and the white tile floor stretched out for what seemed like miles, making the building look bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. It was very much your average, typical mall. 

“So now what?” Fanny asked, her tone as uninterested as usual. “Or did you not plan that far ahead, _Ruby?_ ”

Ruby tried to ignore the spite in Fanny’s voice, instead walking to the front of the group and pointing to the far end of the building. “I was thinking we should grab some food first! None of us have had dinner yet, and it’ll save us from getting hungry later on!” 

“Sounds good to me! I’m starved from all that walking.” Flower replied, leaning on Ruby with one arm. Ruby pretended to pay no mind to it.

“I hate food!” Came Fanny’s voice from the back. Ruby just ignored her.  
  
Bubble looked to where Ruby was pointing, idly twiddling her thumbs. “Yeah, Food sounds like a good idea…”

* * *

Entering the food court, the girls encountered quite a few surprises. The first surprise coming in the form of the cashier at the food place they had decided to eat at. 

“Yellow Face?” Flower exclaimed, a dumbfounded expression on her face. “What are you doing here?”

Yellow Face, wearing a small employee-standard hat on his head, gave the group that smile he gives to everyone. “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm I work here!” 

“We can see that but…” Bubble rubbed her arm. “Why?”

“Ads don’t pay for themselves y’know!!!” Yellow Face answered, his body jumping around in that odd way it does. “They’re quite expensive!! You have to pay actors and and then pay for screen time and-”

“Okay we get it!” Fanny shouted. “We’re here to get food not talk about your stupid ads!”  
  
“Fanny, please be more nice…” Bubble murmured, seeing the frown that was now plastered on Yellow Face’s… Face.

“Sorry about her, she’s just cranky because her only options were to come with us or stay home with Lightning and Snowball.” Ruby explained, leaning against the counter.  
  
Flower, rubbing the back of her head with a concerned look on her face then asked, “About that, are you sure it was a good idea leaving them alone?”

“For the last time, they’ll be fine! They said they were gonna like. Watch a movie or something. Do whatever it is that boys do at a sleepover.” 

“Guys!” Fanny yelled, in that loud, irritated voice that the members of iance had become accustomed to. “I hate it when you talk about me as if I’m not here! And for the second, and last time, we’re here to get food! Not idly stand around and chat!”

Yellow Face too, looked a tad bit annoyed. “Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Fanny’s right. Please make your order, you’re holding up the line.” True to his words, there was a slowly growing line of irritated objects growing behind them. 

“Oh. Sorry.” Ruby and Flower responded in unison. Bubble sighed, but Ruby couldn’t quite figure out what emotion she was feeling at the moment. Knowing her dear friend, she was probably getting quite uncomfortable. It would be best to move forward as fast as possible. The group quickly ordered their food, well, as quick as they could with Fanny complaining that she hated everything on the menu. They sat down at an empty table and began to eat. And that’s when the group had their second run-in with a familiar face.

Bubble was just finishing up a slice of yoylecake. She didn’t really feel like eating a big meal and she had a bit of a sweet tooth at the moment. Seems Ruby had one too, as she was digging into a large mess of deserts, much to Flower’s distaste. The plant was wearing a small disgusted scowl on her face as she watched Ruby start her second bowl of Ice Cream. Fanny looked just as displeased. More displeased than usual. Bubble, however, was used to her friend eating so much sugar. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for her. As for Flower, she was slowly making her way through some kind of burger. Fanny just had a small pack of fries. Apparently she wasn’t that hungry. Looking around the food court, something suddenly caught Bubble’s eye.

“Hey guys, isn’t that X?” She asked, pointing towards where she spotted the variable. The others turned to look at where she was pointing, and everyone stopped eating for a moment.

Sure enough, walking through the food court was X. He had a bright happy-go-lucky smile on his face, and was carrying one of his baskets, which was full of boxes and bags of what seemed to be...Chips? Some of the other objects in the mall were giving him strange looks, which Bubble didn’t find too surprising- he and Four _were_ aliens after all. 

“Yeah, it is.” Ruby responded, her mouth still full of dessert. Flower gave her a nasty look. Clearly she didn’t appreciate her eating with her mouth full. Ruby quickly swallowed, and began tapping her fingers against the table. “Wonder what he’s doing here? Doesn’t he usually hang out with Four?”

“Yeah. Maybe he just wanted to check the place out?” Flower suggested, leaning closer to Ruby.

It seemed as if they weren’t doing a good job at being subtle, as X suddenly noticed them. He instantly gave them all a bright grin, waving giddily. “Hello there!” 

“Hi, X!” Bubble called back. X walked over to the group, and Bubble could now clearly see what was in his basket. Boxes full of snack foods and as she suspected, chips.

“This place is quite big, huh?” The variable asked, looked back towards where he had come from.  
  
“It doesn’t feel that way if you come here often.” Flower took another bite out of her burger, leaning back in her seat. Seems Ruby hadn’t even noticed her leaning towards her. “You’ll get used to it.”  
  
“What’s with all the snacks?” Ruby inquired, pointing at the basket. X seemed to lighten up even more.

“Oh! They’re for Four and the eliminated contestants!. Four’s giving them a big exam tonight and he requested some snacks so they don’t get hungry!”

“An exam?” Flower put her burger back down on her plate, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “So when you get eliminated you get like… Sent to school or something?”

X quickly covered his mouth with his free hand, looking at the ground. “Oh no! I wasn’t supposed to mention that… Oh no…”

Bubble quickly sprung into action, standing up from her seat and patting X on the head. “Hey, hey, it’s okay! We won’t tell anyone! Right, guys?”

“My lips are sealed!” Ruby made an ‘ok’ sign with her left hand. Flower gave a lazy thumbs-up, while Fanny just grunted. X’s smile quickly returned, and after asking for directions to the exit, he went on his merry way.  
  
Soon enough, they had finished eating, and after a little bit of bickering about where they should go next, they settled on a small store that sold a bunch of miscellaneous items. Ruby and Flower had gone off to one end of the store, and currently Ruby was messing around with some weird glowing stick thing. Flower was trying on sunglasses and occasionally asking Ruby if she thought they looked good on her. Bubble and Fanny were just looking around, Fanny seeming bored and Bubble looking for anything of interest. The mood had lifted significantly since the beginning of their little outing. For once, Bubble didn’t feel uncomfortable in Flower’s presence. She didn’t feel any of the peer pressure she knew she’d be feeling if it had been Match and Pencil instead of Fanny and Flower. At this moment she felt as if she could just… Be herself. Sweet, naive Bubble. She slowly turned to look at Fanny. Maybe she was right. Maybe she didn’t need Match and Pencil. What have they ever given her, anyway? Fanny and Ruby were better friends to her than they ever were. Fanny actually seemed to care somewhat about her feelings, and Fanny caring about _anything_ was a rare occurrence. Maybe it was because Bubble had stood up for her?

“You’re staring at me.” Bubble was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts by Fanny’s voice. “I don’t like being stared at like that.”

“Oh, sorry!” Bubble quickly apologized, turning away a little out of instinct. “I was just thinking, I didn’t mean t-”

“Bubble.” Fanny quickly cut her off. She was still frowning, but it looked less… Angry? “I’m not upset with you.”

“You’re not?” 

Fanny shook her head, forcing a scowl onto her face. Bubble didn’t know how she could tell she was faking it, she just… Could. It didn’t feel genuine.  
  
“I’m going to be honest with you, Bubble. And I hate being honest.” Fanny turned to look at one of the shelves, avoiding eye contact. “You’re probably the one thing I hate the _LEAST._ I don’t like being stared at, but if it’s you staring at me, I just can’t get as angry as I usually would be _._ ”

Bubble would be lying if she wasn’t caught off guard by this. Out of everything in the world, Fanny hated her least. She supposed she should feel honored, but she was still in a state of shock from the statement. “You don’t hate me…?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly say it like that!” Fanny retorted, sounding a little bit flustered. “I said I hate you the least! That doesn’t mean I don’t hate you!” 

Despite this comment, Bubble smiled. She knew what Fanny _really_ meant. She was just too cynical and stubborn to say what was actually on her mind. Bubble could understand that to an extent. She decided she wouldn’t pester Fanny about it, last thing she wanted to do was make her friend uncomfortable. She was just opening her mouth to respond when Ruby and Flower suddenly rounded the corner. Flower was wearing a pair of green-tinted sunglasses and a matching headband with a bow accessory, and Ruby had some colorful glowing bracelets dangling from her wrists. Fanny looked at the two with an uninterested look on her face, while Bubble smiled in acknowledgement.  
  
“It’s nothing from a fancy fashion line,” Flower started, running a hand through her petals, “but I think it suits me just fine. Don’t you?”  
  
“I think green looks good on you!” Ruby patted her back, an encouraging smile on her face. “You should totally wear that color more often.”

“I agree with Ruby, the green really compliments the pink in your petals!” Bubble meekly added. Complimenting _Flower_ of all objects was something she thought she’d never do, yet here she was. And she wasn’t lying either, even though it was just cheap dollar store garbage, she actually did look quite pretty. Flower began laughing giddily at the compliments, a small blush creeping up onto her face. Ruby walked over to Bubble, nudging her arm.

“Soooo Bubs. Found anything of interest?”

Bubble laughed nervously, quickly looking around the isles, until something in the back of the store caught her eyes. She gave a quick glance to Fanny, before smiling softly back at Ruby. “No. Not yet. I’m sure I will, though.” 

“Alriighttyyy! We can spend a few more minutes here before moving on!” 

Ruby grabbed Flower’s wrist and the two vanished into the isles again. Quickly taking another look at Fanny, who had gone back to staring at the shelves, Bubble darted quietly into the back isles of the store. Looking at the items that had caught her attention, she slowly picked up two, contemplating in her mind if this would be a good idea. Even if Fanny didn’t feel the same way about _her_ , Bubble cherished her dearly. It was mainly thanks to Fanny that she got the guts to start standing up for herself. This was the least she could do in return. She made her purchase, buying a few decoy items along with them to avoid suspicion, and then the group decided to move on.

The rest of the trip went pretty okay all else considered. Flower brought a cool new jacket at a nearby clothes store, Ruby seemingly decided that all the desserts she had eaten earlier didn’t satisfy her hunger, because she was now carrying the holy grail of sugary snacks in her bag. She said she’d share them later, but Bubble highly doubted that. Fanny was now wearing a colorful bead necklace courtesy of Ruby, even though the fan expressed that she hated it. It was starting to get really late and everyone was beginning to get tired. They had decided it was time to start heading back. 

But as they neared the Foot Court, the group began hearing sounds. Shouting, laughing, screaming, and loud ugly squelching noises. The girls gave one another a ‘What?’ look, slowly rounding the corner to see what was going on. What they saw was a war zone. Apparently a food fight had broken out in the Food Court. Tables had been flipped over and everything was covered in mushy food. iance stared at the scene before them, completely dumbstruck. Flower squealed, ducking behind Ruby as a tomato flew over her head. Peeking out from behind her again, she could make out Yellow Face, still behind the counter, selling food to the objects participating in the fight. At least someone was getting something out of this. Looking around some more, Flower could make out some more familiar faces. Pin and Coiny were hiding under one of the tables that hadn’t been flipped, Lollipop was using her fork repellent to shield herself and Taco from the food shower, must've been the multi-purpose kind, and Dora was standing on another table, throwing tomatoes around the room. Most objects appeared to be targeting her, so Flower assumed that Dora must’ve been the one who started this mess. 

Bubble had backed away, scared of getting popped. The tomato that had flown over Flowers head had hit Fanny in the blades, where she proceeded to grind it down into gross red mush.

“Oh no!” Bubble exclaimed. “How are we going to get out of here? The exit is on the other side of the food court!”

“I hate food fights!”

“Fanny, stop your whining for a moment and let me think!” Ruby shouted, placing a hand on her ‘chin’ in thought. “We could pick up a table and use it as a shield? But even that might be too risky. One of us would have to run out into that mess, and tables are heavy. We could-”

Ruby continued to list off ways they could get through the Food Court without getting covered in gross mush, each idea more ridiculous than the last. Flower was about to butt in and get her to stop talking, when she suddenly felt something hit her back. Turning around, she saw that she’d been hit by a gross, slimy pickle, still covered in ketchup. Presumably from someone’s burger. Normally, she’d be grossed out. But because of how tired she was, and the state of the situation, she could only feel angry. It was a good thing she wasn’t wearing her new jacket at this time, or what happened next would’ve been much uglier. Flower suddenly ran out into the food court, Bubble and Ruby’s protests echoing after her. Feeling the same adrenaline she felt during the stairs challenge, Flower gracefully slid under the table Pin and Coiny were hiding under to avoid getting hit again, picked up a stray tomato she found on the ground and threw it in a random direction, hoping to draw attention away from herself. She pushed over some strangers who were standing in her way, laughing as they fell into the muck on the ground. She knew a way she could help her team get out of here. After dancing and dodging her way through the battlefield, she jumped up onto the table Dora was standing on. With the force of an angry Four, Flower pushed Dora as hard as she could towards Lollipop and Taco. Her plan worked, as Dora went barreling into both of them, knocking them over. The fork repellent went flying from Lollipop’s hand, and Flower caught it mid-air. Beginning to feel her newfound energy wear off, she quickly made her way back to her teammates, waving the fork repellent. 

Ruby and Bubble were at a total loss for words. They were aware Flower could be quite athletic when she needed to be, but they hadn’t quite witnessed anything like this before. Ruby began clapping and cheering, a giant grin on her face. Bubble joined in the clapping, out of nothing but pure respect. Fanny remained silent, but Bubble had the feeling that she was probably feeling somewhat awestruck herself. 

After coating themselves in the fork repellent, the team had little to no issue passing through the food court. Flower couldn’t help but snicker upon seeing Lollipop berating Dora, pointing at her accusingly. _‘Better her than me,’_ she thought.

* * *

iance finally made it outside the shopping center, stopping for a moment to catch their breaths. All four of them had quite a bit to reflect on after that spectacle. 

Ruby thought Fanny’s attitude could’ve been better. But Bubble seemed to think there was nothing wrong with it. As for Ruby herself, she was overall very happy with how the night had gone. Bubble seemed much happier, and that’s all Ruby really wanted. But even she herself felt more happy than usual. Turns out, Flower could be pretty cool sometimes. Ruby found herself enjoying her presence, not that she’d ever admit it out loud. Honestly, she didn’t know what it was she was feeling. She considered Flower a friend, definitely, but this felt like something else entirely. Deciding to brush it off for now, she just opted to celebrate the fact that everyone seemed to get along pretty okay tonight. Flower didn’t try popping Bubble, and sure there was that brief spat with Fanny earlier, but other than that, no incidents happened within the group itself. Ruby really felt as if this little trip had brought them closer together. She pretended as if she hadn’t noticed the brief glances Bubble would give Fanny. Even though iance did have it’s down moments where the members would argue and fight, this night proved that all of them could get along if they all put in the effort. And that made Ruby all the more pleased with herself.

The walk back was full of laughter and conversation, save for Fanny who preferred to stay quiet. Flower occasionally bragging about how pretty she thought she looked, and Ruby and Bubble complimenting her on how cool she was back in the Food Court. They recapped the events of the night with content and happiness. Flower didn’t even try jeering any insults towards anyone. This just proved to Ruby that Flower was capable of changing her attitude. As much as she already liked Flower, she didn’t like it when she’d insult the other members of iance, so seeing her acting so… Pleasant? Was a nice change. 

Bubble walked next to Fanny. Flower and Ruby danced ahead of them, gleefully chatting. As much as she would like to join in on their conversation, she didn’t want Fanny to feel left out. She wanted her to know that she was here for her, even if she didn’t want her to be. Even if she didn’t want to make any kind of conversation with her. Bubble was just content to walk in relative silence with Fanny. 

Soon enough all chatter died down. All four of them were exhausted at this point and just couldn’t wait to get home. Re-entering the BFB competition contestant housing grounds felt like a weight being lifted off all of their chests. They noticed that the lights were off in every team's house except for Death PACT’s, The Loser’s, Bleh’s and… theirs. Lightning and Snowball must still be up, then.

Standing in front of the door to iance’s house, Flower was the first to cut the silence.

“I bet you they’ve already broken everything.”

Ruby grabbed the doorknob, slowly turning it. “Awww c’mon Flower! Lightning and Snowball may be quite barbaric sometimes but I don’t think-”

What was waiting for them on the other side of the door was nothing short of a nightmare hellzone. Broken vases and silverware was scattered all over the main hall, and there was smoke protruding from under the kitchen door. The girls all started coughing as the smoke flew outside, and just above the coughing Ruby could vaguely make out shouting coming from the kitchen. Flower let out a series of loud hacks, turning back to Ruby.

“I KNEW leaving them alone would be a bad idea!”

Bubble backed away, covering her face with her arms. “Yeah Ruby, this _was_ a bit of a misjudgment on your part.”

“Well what was I supposed to do, find a babysitter?”

As Flower, Ruby and Bubble engaged in conversation about who was in the right and who was in the wrong, Fanny angrily stepped inside, turning up the settings on her fan blades. She flung open the kitchen door, immediately taking notice of the stove which was currently on actual fire. Lightning hovered above the flame, staring directly at her. Snowball was nowhere to be seen. 

“Lightning.” 

The bolt flinched at Fanny’s tone, raising his arms in defense. “Fanny, I can totally explain!”  
  
“ _Lightning._ ”  
  
“I was making dinner and I’m going to be 100% real with you I’ve never used a stove before and Snowball wasn’t much help and he ran upstairs when the stove caught fire and now everything is-”  
  
“ **_THE STOVE IS ON FIRE, LIGHTNING._ **” 

“U-uh, I-”  
  
“For flubs sake, _GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!_ ” Fanny bellowed. “We’ll put out the stupid fire, just get out before you make an even BIGGER mess!”

Lightning didn’t try to protest, too startled and possibly afraid to argue. He quickly darted out the kitchen door and up the stairs. Ruby soon joined Fanny in the kitchen. Bubble and Flower would’ve helped, but Flower didn’t want to go near the flame and Bubble was already having a bad time trying to navigate around all the broken glass on the floor. Ruby jumped up onto the kitchen counter, opening the window, before grabbing a bucket they always kept in the corner. She quickly filled it up with water, dumping it on the stove. Once the fire was gone, Fanny blew the smoke outside. 

Fanny and Ruby joined Flower and Bubble in the hallway, looking around at the mess. 

“It could be worse?” Ruby shrugged, smiling sheepishly. Flower and Bubble just gave her an exhausted look. The former rubbed her eyes, groaning in exasperation. 

“Whatever. I’m too tired to yell at them, I’m going to bed.” 

“I’m with Flower on this one.” Bubble mumbled tiredly. “Despite this, I had fun tonight. See you in the morning.” 

Flower and Bubble then departed, carefully stepping over the glass and making their way to their rooms. Ruby and Fanny were still trying to completely process what had just happened. Ruby decided that it would probably be best to sort this out in the morning, and soon, she too made her way to her room. Fanny, however, was not willing to let this go so quickly. Since her room was upstairs, she could give Lightning and Snowball a good piece of her mind. If she used her ‘quiet tone’ she could probably avoid waking her teammates, even though she really wouldn’t care less if she did. Storming up the stairs as dramatically as she could without making too much noise, she barged into Lightning and Snowballs room. Snowball was pretending to be asleep. Fanny could tell he was faking because Snowball always made this horrible snoring noise when he slept. And Lightning definitely wasn’t asleep, if the fluorescent yellow-green glow coming from _under_ the bed was any indication. Lightning may be able to pull his weight in challenges but much like Snowball and Ruby, he wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed.  
  
“Snowball. Lightning. I know that both of you are awake.”  
  
“No we’re not! Go away, Fanny!”  
  
“Snowball if you were really asleep you wouldn’t have responded to me. You’re a moron. And LIGHTNING. You’re under the stupid bed! You don’t sleep _under_ a bed, you dimrod!”

“To clarify-”

“Flower told you to stop doing that!” She flicked on the lightswitch and Snowball sat up. Lightning peered out from under the bed, a giant frown on his face. “Both of you. Are in so. Much. TROUBLE!”

Snowball jumped out of his bed, jabbing a finger in her face. “And what are you gonna do, huh? I could send you barreling down those stairs right now if I really wanted to!”  
  
Fanny gave a malicious smile. “You’re right, Snowball. And I hate it when you’re right.” She slowly walked towards him, and he took a threatening stance, preparing to dish out some pain. But as he lunged towards her, she ducked to the side, sticking one of her legs out. Snowball tripped, and went rolling out the door. Fanny could hear him rolling down the stairs, and his yelps of pain were like music to her ears. Turning around, she came face-to-face with an angered Lightning.  
  
“I wouldn’t zap me if I were you.” Fanny quickly jeered. Seeing Lightning’s confused reaction, she added, “If you do I’ll tell Snowball your little secret.”

“What secret! I don’t have any secrets, you’re like, totally bluffing!”

“Oh, so the fact that you have a specific reason why you won't-”  
  
“Okay okay, shut up!” Lightning darted back into the corner of the room, hiding his face. “I won’t zap you, just don’t tell him! Or anyone for that matter! I don’t even know how you found out about that but I guess it doesn’t matter!”

“I hate secrets anyway.” Fanny scoffed. “But if I can use it as blackmail to save my hide, then maybe they aren’t so awful. I’m too tired to put up with your stupidity any longer, I’m going to bed. I want the hallway and the kitchen cleaned up, and if the mess is still there when I wake up, then you two will be in even MORE trouble, understand?”  
  
“For Goiky’s sake, I don’t know who made you team leader, but if it’ll keep you off my back then FINE!”

Fanny grinned triumphantly as Lightning zipped out of the room. She could faintly hear him and Snowball conversing at the bottom of the stairs. Letting out a loud yawn, Fanny then made her way to her bedroom, and fell asleep almost as soon as she hit the bed. She was so deep in slumber that she didn’t even notice the object entering her room. She didn’t even notice that object placing something on her nightstand, she didn’t even hear the closing of the door as that object left. There was nothing but silent bliss. 

* * *

Breakfast was very lackluster. Ruby, Flower and Bubble were all awake, eating in silence. Fanny and the boys were still asleep. It seems as if the mess had been cleaned up, and the girls figured that Fanny probably harrassed the boys into doing it. It wouldn’t be that surprising. Everyone was still recovering from their adventure the previous night, and although they were awake, they were still quite knackered. Flower was wearing her new jacket and the headband, and Ruby was currently gushing about how pretty she looked. Bubble just slowly ate her breakfast, occasionally glancing at her wrist. The light blue-dark blue beaded bracelet that was now tied around was the source of all her worries at the moment. A friendship bracelet. Not many objects in BFB used them, and giving one to somebody was considered a gesture of the humblest kindness. As lame as it sounded, it was true. It was sort of a heat-of-the-moment thing when Bubble bought them. She just hoped that the object she had given the other bracelet to would accept the gift. Bubble anxiously tapped her fingers against the table, lost in her thoughts. Until she heard the kitchen door creaking open. Fanny walked in, her usual disgusted scowl plastered on her face.  
  
She jumped up onto one of the chairs, and began eating the breakfast the girls had left for her. Bubble looked down, and smiled wide at what she saw. A light blue-dark blue beaded friendship bracelet tied around Fanny’s ankle. And that’s when she made the conclusion. She didn’t need Match and Pencil. She had someone much better than _either_ of them. And it warmed her foamy heart that Fanny did feel the same.  
  
That was by far the best outing she had ever been on. And she honestly hoped she’d be able to go on more. Out of the corner of her eye, Bubble could’ve sworn she saw Fanny smiling at her.

* * *

When the boys eventually joined them in the kitchen, all hell broke loose. It took some work but eventually Bubble and Ruby managed to get everyone seated in the living room. Flower, leaning back in an armchair, crossed her arms and gave the boys an accusatory glare.

“So.” Fanny grumbled, pacing back and forth before stopping and giving Lightning and Snowball the most frightening death glare she could manage. “Care to explain what happened while we were gone?”

The two exchanged a look, knowing they weren't going to be able to worm their way out of this one. Lightning opened his mouth.  
  
“Well... _I guess_ it started going downhill when Snowball invited Pen and his gang over.”


End file.
